Profile rolling attachment



Aug. 25, 1964 F. NELL 3,145,590

PROFILE ROLLING ATTACHMENT Filed April 1, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 24 l 462s Avg", 48

FIG. 4 INVENTQR FREDERIC NELL ATTORNEYS Aug. 25, 1964 F. NELL 3,145,590

PROFILE ROLLING ATTACHMENT Filed April 1, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORFREDERIC NELL.

BY M %m*%z&

ATTORNEYS \VIIIIIIIYI&

FIG. 3

United States Patent 3,145,596 PROFILE RQLLING ATTACHh ENT FredericNeil, Waynesboro, Pa, assignor to Landis Machine Qompany, Waynesboro,Pin, a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Apr. 1, 1959, Ser. No. 863,5319 Claims. (Cl. 80-6) This invention relates to profile rollingattachments of the type employing two rolling dies and moving upon arotating work piece laterally to impress the profile of the die into themetal of the Work piece. Such tools are generally employed on turretlathes or the like machine tools. The invention particularly concernssuch a tool for rolling splines or axially extending serrations.

Examples of prior attachments of the same general nature for rollingscrew threads are disclosed in the United States Patent No. 2,694,322,issued November 16, 1954, and in copending application Serial No.656,480, filed April 29, 1957, now Patent 2,919,612, issued January 5,1960. The utilization of such devices for rolling splines presentsunsuspected problems. Because the tool is designed to move upon the workpiece from the side, it is evident that the initial angle of contactbetween dies and work piece will be something less than 180. This angleof contact is precisely dictated by the diameter of the blank workpiece, the diameter of the die, the spacing between the die axes, andthe depth of the serrations to be rolled. But this angle cannot bemaintained when splines are to be rolled because it has been foundnecessary to make forming contact with the work piece with both diessimultaneously. This condition requires that the spacing between teethon the dies match exactly with the required contact angle which ispractically never the case.

The required initial contact angle could be achieved by changing thediameter of the die. It should be re alized that, unlike thread rolling,in spline rolling the die diameter does not have to be a multiple of thework blank diameter. The only criterion therefore is that the diediameter must be such as to enable its circumference to be divided intoa whole number of teeth. It has been found in practice, however, that tomake the necessary change in contact angle would require a die diameterfar too small.

These difiiculties have proved so formidable that prior to the presentinvention it has not been considered poss"- ble to roll splines withapparatus of the general type shown in the aforesaid United StatesPatent 2,694,322 despite its widespread use in other types of rolling.

The invention solves the problem by providing apparatus for forcing thedies toward each other closer than normal prior to contact with the workpiece and then allowing them to expand to normal rolling position afterthe spline teeth have been located by initial indentation of the workpiece. To do this, the body of the attachment is made of two hinged diecarriers, each carrying one die, as in the above-mentioned copendingapplication. A toggle device, supported by a heavy spring is located atthe rear of the body to force the rear ends of the die carrier apartwhich forces the dies closer together. A fine adjustment of the toggleaction permits the dies to be moved closer together by exactly theamount required to bring the contact angle into registry with thetoothspacing on the work piece.

Accordingly it is an object of the invention to provide an attachmentfor application to turret lathes and the like to roll splines andsimilar axially extending serrations on cylindrical work pieces, saidattachment moving onto the work piece from the side.

Another object is to provide a rolling attachment as described abovehaving a hinged two-part frame with the two parts of the frame connectedby a toggle mechanism whereby the rolling dies may be forced closertogether than normally for initial indentation of the workpiece.

It is a further object to provide a stop device to hold the two parts ofthe frame in normal rolling position after the initial indentation hasbeen achieved.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a fine adjustmentfor the toggle mechanism to enable the rolling dies to be set for thecorrect contact angle with the work piece for properly indenting thesame.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent fromthe following description of an exemplary embodiment thereof and fromthe accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of the complete mechanism showing it inposition to begin indenting a work piece with splines;

FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal section through the shank of the device andthrough the toggle mechanism;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical section taken substantially along line 3--3 ofFIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 4 is a vertical section taken along line 4-4 of FIGURE 3.

The attachment comprises upper and lower frame portions 20 and 22respectively, mounted in scissors-like relationship upon a bushing 24(FIGURE 4) surrounding a hinge pin 26. Rolling dies 28 and 30respectively are mounted in well known manner in the hinged framemembers 24) and 22. The circumferences of dies 28 and 30 are providedwith the reverse profile or mirror image of the serrations tobe rolledupon the work piece.

As in prior constructions the rolling dies 28 and 30 are connected bymeshing gears 32 to maintain the dies in correct phase throughout theoperation and to return them to correct relative angular position aftereach operation.

The frame portions 20 and 22 are not only hinged relatively to eachother upon pin 26 but are pivotally mounted thereby upon a shank 34 of ashape and size calculated to adapt the mechanism to the cross slide of aturret lathe for example. A pair of screws 36 (FIGURE 1) are inserted inone side of the shank 34 to attach thereto a stop member 38. The end ofstop member 38 abuts a screw 40 threadedly engaged in one of the gearcovers 42 in frame member 22, to maintain the relative positions offrame member and shank and thus present the rolling dies 28 and 30 atthe proper position for engaging the work piece W. An elongated slot 44is provided in the stop member 38 for adjusting the position of thatmember.

In conventional attachments the two hinged frame members are immovablyattached to each other by a size adjusting link to prevent relativepivotal movement during the rolling operation. In contrast thereto, inthis device the size adjusting link (FIGURES 3 and 4) is comprised oftwo parts 4-6 and 48. The part 46 is secured to frame portion 20 by ascrew 50 While the part 48 is secured to frame portion 22 by a screw 52.The well known pins 54, abutted by screws 56 (FIGURE 1) are provided toadjust the precise location of the parts 46 and 48. Thus the parts 46and 48 limit rotation of the frame portions 23 and 22 relative to eachother in one direction only and limit the extent to which the rollingdies 28 and 30 can be spread apart during the rolling operation, thusdetermining the final size of the work piece.

The frame portion 29 has welded thereto at the rear thereof a bracket53, generally iU-shaped in cross section. The bracket 53, in effect,forms a channel to receive a clevis bolt 6i) which is povtally attachedto he bracket by a pin 62. The frame portion 22 has Welded thereto abracket 64 in alignment with the bracket 58 and forming a housing for alink 66 which is pivotally attached to the bracket 64 by a pin 68. Theupper end of the link 66 is bifurcated to receive a second clevis bolt71) which is attached to the link 66 by a pin 72. The free ends of bothclevis bolts 60 and 70 are screwed into the opposite ends of aturnbuckle 74, also disposed in the bracket 58. The turnbuckle 74 thusconstitutes a simple means of adjusting the distance between the centersof pins 62 and 72.

The shank 34 is provided with a large cylindrical opening 76 (FIGURE 2)occupied by a compression spring 78. The rear end of the opening 76 isclosed by a cap 80 threadedly engaged in the opening and hollowed toreceive one end of spring 78. The opposite or forward end of spring 78abuts against a shoulder 82 on a guide member 84. A headed screw 86 isthreaded into the forward end of member 84 and a lock nut 88 surroundsthe screw 86 to retain it in correct axial position.

As best shown in FIGURE 2, it will be seen that the screw 86 abuts theclevis bolt 7t) and that the force of the spring 78 is exerted throughscrew 86 to push the clevis 70 and the pin 72 as far forwardly aspossible. The forward motion of clevis bolt 70 is arrested by surfacesof the brackets 58 and 64.

Without the device of the invention the rolling dies 28 and 30 wouldmake contact with the work piece at a random contact angle A (FIGURE 1).In such case it is extremely unlikely that the two contact points on thework piece are precisely far enough apart for the work to be evenlydivided by the tooth spacing. Consequently no splines could be rolled.In the mechanism of the invention, on the contrary, the precise contactangle A is calculated and the turnbuckle 74 is adjusted accordingly. Asthe attachment is caused to approach the rotating work piece the spring78 urges the guide member 84 forwardly and the force of the spring isbrought to bear on the clevis '70 by the screw 86. The clevis 79 ispressed forwardly until its forward surface contacts the brackets 58 and64 as shown in FIGURE 2. In this position the size adjusting members 46and 48 are forced slightly apart (FIGURES 3 and 4) and the rolling diesare forced slightly closer together than normal.

After contact is made with the work piece about onehaif revolutionthereof sufiices to indent the serration locations therein and furtherrotation thereof builds up the rolling pressure to overcome that of thespring 78. At this point the size adjusting members 46 and 48 are forcedtogether by the rolling pressure and the forward surface of cleivs 7% isforced rearwardly away from the brackets 58 and 64, compressing spring78. This is the normal rolling position of the mechanism in which itremains until the center line of the work piece lies on the line joiningthe rolling die centers and the rolling operation is completed.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departingfrom the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The presentembodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrativeand not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by theappended claims rather than by the foregoing descriptionQand all changeswhich come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims aretherefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by United States LettersPatent is:

1. Apparatus for rolling splines or like formations on a cylindricalWork piece by movement laterally onto said workpiece comprising asupport, a pair of frame sections pivotally carried by said support, adie rotatably carried by each of said frame sections, said dies havingappropriate surface configurations for forming said splines or likeformations on said work piece, means operatively connected to said diesfor maintaining said dies in predetermined angular relation, adjustableabutment means carried by the frame sections for limiting the relativepivotal movement of said frame sections in one direction to therebydetermine the maximum spacing between said dies, a toggle mechanismoperatively connected to said frame sections and adapted when moved inone direction to move said frame sections together to decrease thespacing between said dies, spring means resiliently urging said togglemechanism in said one direction, said toggle mechanism having a partengageable with said support to limit the extension of said spring, andmeans for adjusting the relative spacing of said dies when said springis at its fully extended position and said part is engaged with saidsupport.

2. Apparatus for rolling splines or like formations on a cylindricalwork piece by movement laterally onto said work piece comprising asupport, a pair of frame sections pivotally carried by said support, adie rotatably carried by each of said frame sections, said dies havingappropriate surface configurations for forming said splines or likeserrations on said work piece, means operatively connected to said diesfor maintaining said dies in predetermined angular relation, meansforming adjustably positionable abutments on said frame sections adaptedto limit the relative pivotal movement of said frame sections in onedirection to thereby determine the maximum spacing between said dies, atoggle mechanism, means pivotally connecting the opposite ends of saidtoggle mechanism to the respective frame sections, said toggle mechanismbeing adapted when moved in one direction to move said frame sections ina direction to decrease the spacing between said dies, a positive stopfor limiting the movement of said toggle mechanism in said onedirection, and a spring compressed between an abutment on said supportand said toggle mechanism for urging said toggle mechanism in said onedirection against said stop.

3. Apparatus for rolling splines or like formations on a cylindricalworkpiece by movement laterally onto said workpiece comprising asupport, a pair of frame sections pivotally carried by said support, adie rotatably carried by each of said frame sections, said dies havingappro priate surface configurations for forming said splines or likeformations on said workpiece, means operatively connected to said diesfor maintaining said dies in predetermined angular relation, firstadjustable means for limiting the relative pivotal movement of saidframe sections in one direction to thereby determine the maximum spacingbetween said dies at which said rolling operation is completed, secondadjustable means independent of said first adjustable means for limitingthe relative pivotal movement of said frame sections in the oppositedirection to thereby determine the minimum spacing between said dies atwhich said rolling operation is initiated, and means resiliently urgingsaid frame sections in said opposite direction to their minimum spaceposition.

4. Apparatus for rolling splines or like formations on a cylindricalworkpiece by movement laterally onto said workpiece comprising asupport, a pair of frame sections pivotally carried by said support, adie rotatably carried by each of said frame sections, said dies havingappropriate surface configurations for forming said splines or likeformations on said workpiece, means operatively connected to said diesfor maintaining said dies in predetermined angular relation, adjustableabutment means carried by the frame sections for limiting the relativepivotal movement of said frame sections in one direction to therebydetermine the maximum spacing between said dies, a toggle mechanismadapted when moved in one direction to move said frame sections togetherto decrease the spacing between said dies, a positive stop engageablewith said support for limiting the movement of said toggle mechanism insaid one direction, means resilientiy urging said toggle mechanism insaid one direction to engage said stop with said support, and means foradjusting the effective length of said toggle mechanism to therebydetermine the relative spacing of said dies when said stop is engagedwith said support.

5. Apparatus for rolling splines or like formations on a cylindricalworkpiece by movement laterally onto said workpiece comprising asupport, a pair of frame sections pivotally carried by said support, adie rotatably carried by each of said frame sections, said dies havingappropriate surface configurations for forming said splines or likeformations on said workpiece, means operatively connected to said diesfor maintaining said dies in predetermined angular relation, adjustablypositionable abutments on said frame sections adapted to limit therelative pivotal movement of said frame sections in one direction tothereby determine the maximum spacing between said dies, a togglemechanism, means pivotally connecting the opposite ends of said togglemechanism to the respective frame sections, said toggle mechanism beingadapted, when moved in one direction, to move said frame sections in adirection to decrease the spacing between said dies, a positive stop forlimiting the movement of said toggle mechanism in said one direction, aspring compressed between an abutment on said support and said togglemechanism for urging said toggle mechanism in said one direction, andmeans for adjusting the effective length of said toggle mechanism tothereby determine the spacing between said dies when said togglemechanism is urged against said stop by said spring.

6. Apparatus for rolling splines or like formations on a cylindricalworkpiece by movement laterally onto said workpiece comprising asupport, a pair of frame sections pivotally carried by said support, adie rotatably carried by each of said frame sections, said dies havingappropriate surface configurations for forming said splines or likeformations on said workpiece, means operatively connected to said diesfor maintaining said dies in predetermined angular relation, positivestop means operatively connected to. each of said frame sections forlimiting the relative pivotal movement of said frame sections in onedirection to thereby determine the maximum spacing between said dies,means for adjusting said positive stop means, spring means resilientlyurging said frame sections in the opposite direction to decrease saidspacing between said dies, a positive stop interposed between saidsupport and said spring means for limiting the extension of said springmeans, and means for adjusting the relative spacing of said dies whensaid spring is at its fully extended position.

7. Apparatus for rolling lengthwise serrations having a predeterminedcircular pitch on a cylindrical workpiece, said apparatus movinglaterally of said workpiece as said serrations are formed, comprising asupport, a pair of frame sections pivotally carried by said support, adie rotatably carried by each of said frame sections, said dies havingappropriate surface configurations for forming said serrations on saidworkpiece, means maintaining the dies in predetermined angular relation,adjustable abutment means carried by said frame sections for limitingthe relative pivotal movement of said frame sections in one direction tothereby determine the maximum spacing between said dies, said maximumspacing being that required to complete the rolling operation, a springurged mechanism operatively connected between said support and saidframe sections to move said dies together to decrease the spacingbetween said dies, a positive stop independent of said abutment meansfor limiting the movement of said spring urged mechanism in said onedirection to thereby determine the minimum spacing between said dies,said minimum spacing disposing the points of contact between theworkpiece and the respective dies circumferentially spaced apart on saidworkpiece a distance exactly divisible by the said circular pitch ofsaid serrations.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7 wherein said dies are carried bysaid frame sections for rotation about axes substantially parallel tothe pivotal axes of said frame sections.

9. Apparatus for rolling lengthwise serrations having a predeterminedcircular pitch on a cylindrical workpiece, said apparatus movinglaterally of said workpiece as said serrations are formed, comprising, asupport, a pair of frame sections pivotally carried by said support, adie rotatably carried by each of said frame sections, said dies havingappropriate surface configurations for forming said serrations on saidworkpiece, means maintaining the dies in predetermined angular relation,adjustable abutment means carried by said frame sections for limitingthe relative pivotal movement of said frame sections in one direction tothereby determine the maximum spacing between said dies, said maximumspacing being that required to complete the rolling operation, a togglemechanism, means pivotally connecting the opposite ends of said togglemechanism to the respective frame sections, said toggle mechanism beingadapted when moved in one direction to move said frame sections in adirection to decrease the spacing between said dies, at positive stopfor limiting the movement of said toggle mechanism in said onedirection, a spring compressed between an abutment on said support andsaid toggle mechanism for urging said toggle mechanism in one direction,means for adjusting the effective length of said toggle mechanism tothereby determine the spacing between said dies when said togglemechanism is urged against said stop by said spring, to therebydetermine the minimum spacing between said dies, said minimum spacingbeing such that the points of contact between the workpiece and therespective dies are circumferentially spaced apart on said workpiece adistance exactly divisible by the said circular pitch of saidserrations.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,854,021 Derby Apr. 12, 1932 2,291,751 Oestereicher Aug. 4, 19422,654,276 Jones Oct. 6, 1953 2,679,774 MacDonald June 1, 1954 2,771,799Batchelder Nov. 27, 1956 2,849,904 7 Hill Sept. 2, 1958 2,919,612 BerkeyIan. 5, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 538,222 Canada Mar. 12, 1957

1. APPARATUS FOR ROLLING SPLINES OR LIKE FORMATIONS ON A CYLINDRICAL WORK PIECE BY MOVEMENT LATERALLY ONTO SAID WORKPIECE COMPRISING A SUPPORT, A PAIR OF FRAME SECTIONS PIVOTALLY CARRIED BY SAID SUPPORT, A DIE ROTATABLY CARRIED BY EACH OF SAID FRAME SECTIONS, SAID DIES HAVING APPROPRIATE SURFACE CONFIGURATIONS FOR FORMING SAID SPLINES OR LIKE FORMATIONS ON SAID WORK PIECE, MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID DIES FOR MAINTAINING SAID DIES IN PREDETERMINED ANGULAR RELATION, ADJUSTABLE ABUTMENT MEANS CARRIED BY THE FRAME SECTIONS FOR LIMITING THE RELATIVE PIVOTAL MOVEMENT OF SAID FRAME SECTIONS IN ONE DIRECTION TO THEREBY DETERMINE THE MAXIMUM SPACING BETWEEN SAID DIES, A TOGGLE MECHANISM OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID FRAME SECTIONS AND ADAPTED WHEN MOVED IN ONE DIRECTION TO MOVE SAID FRAME SECTIONS TOGETHER TO DECREASE THE SPACING BETWEEN SAID DIES, SPRING MEANS RESILIENTLY URGING SAID TOGGLE MECHANISM IN SAID ONE DIRECTION, SAID TOGGLE MECHANISM HAVING A PART ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID SUPPORT TO LIMIT THE EXTENSION OF SAID SPRING, AND MEANS FOR ADJUSTING THE RELATIVE SPACING OF SAID DIES WHEN SAID SPRING IS AT ITS FULLY EXTENDED POSITION AND SAID PART IS ENGAGED WITH SAID SUPPORT. 